Canadian Dollar Advances On Higher Oil Prices

The Canadian dollar climbed against its major counterparts in late Asian deals on Tuesday, as oil prices rose following the outage of a major North Sea pipeline due to a crack.

Crude for January delivery rose $0.40 to $58.39 per barrel.

The operator of the Forties network, Ineos, announced that it had decided to shutdown the Forties pipeline system for a couple of weeks to repair the crack.

Forties pipeline, which has a capacity to carry 450,000 barrels per day crude, has been transporting oil from the North Sea to the Kinneil processing terminal in Scotland.

Markets await cues from key central bank meetings due this week as well as the outcome of a major annual economic planning conference in Beijing that will set policy priorities for the next 12 months.

The Federal Reserve is widely expected to lift short-term interest rates by 25 basis points at its two-day policy meeting ending on Wednesday.

Other major central banks, including the European Central Bank, Bank of England and the Swiss National Bank will announce their policy decisions on Thursday.

The loonie recovered to 88.37 against the yen, from a low of 88.24 hit at 8:45 pm ET. If the loonie rises further, 90.5 is seen as its next resistance level.

Data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry showed that Japan's tertiary activity index increased at a faster-than-expected pace in October, after falling in the previous two months.

The tertiary activity index climbed 0.3 percent month-over-month in October, reversing a 0.2 percent decrease in September. Economists had expected a 0.2 percent rise for the month.

The loonie edged up to 1.2838 against the greenback, off its previous low of 1.2861. Continuation of the loonie's uptrend may see it challenging resistance around the 1.27 mark.

The loonie ticked up to 1.5118 against the euro early in the Asian session and held steady thereafter. The pair finished Monday's trading at 1.5126.

On the flip side, the loonie dropped to 0.9692 against the aussie, after having advanced to 0.9666 at 8:00 pm ET. Further downtrend may take the loonie to a support around the 0.98 region.

The latest survey from National Australia Bank showed that Australia's consumer confidence slowed in November, with an index score of +6.

That's down from the upwardly revised +9 in October.

Looking ahead, U.K. consumer and producer prices for November and German ZEW economic sentiment index for December are set for release in the European session.

In the New York session, U.S. producer prices and monthly budget statement for November are due.